FAQ

How many books are there in the Razorland saga?

The trilogy is comprised of Enclave, Outpost, and Horde. There are also some free short stories in Fade’s POV, a novella, and a prequel story. A fourth novel, Vanguard, is not part of the original series, but rather is more of a companion novel, and is primarily about Tegan, Morrow, and Szarok.

Will there be any Razorland movies?

Anything is possible. I sold the option to Kickstart studios, but so far, things are quiet on that front. I’ll update you the moment I know anything more.

Do you have any books in Spanish?

Yes, the Razorland trilogy is available in Spanish. We also sold Spanish rights for the YA SF series I’m co-writing with Rachel Caine, so look for The Honors in Spanish as well.

What other languages are your books in?

French, Polish, German, Thai, Japanese, Turkish…

So I want you to attend my… (writer’s conference, SFF con, book fair, group author signing, tea party, romance retreat, literacy fundraiser, step-nephew’s bar mitzvah). Can you make it?

If I’m drafting a book, I write for three hours in the morning. I don’t check email or mess around online. Generally, that’s 3K words. To keep the writing moving that fast, I block the scene the night before in bed as I’m waiting to fall asleep. I know what I’m writing in the morning, so there’s no blank staring time. When I’m writing, I write: typity typity type. Once I’ve finished my words, that’s not the end of my work day. I spend the other five hours working on edits, revisions, galleys, or whatever else has come across my desk. I also do promo and networking. At five, I knock off work. I make dinner for my family, and we hang out with the kids until 8:30. I spend 1.5 hours alone with my husband. At ten, we split up so he can have some quiet time (to play video games and watch bad Japanese horror movies.) From ten to midnight, I will do one of three things: (1) read a book, (2) chat on IM to one of my friends, (3) work more. It really depends on my mood as to which. Sometimes I combine options two and three. This is my life, five days a week, and it allows me to accomplish a lot.

I am never doing nothing. I always have something percolating, and I rarely take more than a week off between projects. Weekends off keep me charged up and ready to keep working.

Can you just put your release schedule in one place for me, please?

Sure!

The Demon Prince, March 28, 2017

Vanguard, July 25, 2017

I also have a number of secret projects percolating. Stay tuned.

Why did you decide to end the Jax series?

The Jax series was never meant to be open-ended. I had a finite story arc in mind, so at the end of six books, Jax’s story was told, and she’s free to pursue her life off-page. I didn’t care to extend the books beyond their natural life, as that might have caused deterioration in quality and/or intensity.

Did you sell a Jax spin-off?

The Dred Chronicles (a trilogy) is set in the Jax universe, 30 to 40 years after Jax ends. The villain from Doubleblind, Jael, will be the hero & love interest. The heroine? Well, Dred is pretty awesome.

Voices in my head tell me what to write. Luckily, they’re benign and don’t tell me to do anything else. Wait, that’s a lie. Sometimes they tell me to stay in bed and/or watch Dramaf, but I don’t listen, or I wouldn’t get any work done.

How do you pronounce your last name? It looks Irish. Is it Irish?

Ah-GEAR-ay works fine, but if you can roll your “R”s in there a bit, then you’ve got it. It’s not Irish. You’re thinking of Maguire, I believe.

Is that your real name or did you pick it so your books go at the front of the bookshelf?

Right near Douglas Addams, you mean? That is a lovely slice of serendipity, but it’s my married name, so yes, it’s mine legally. Interesting bit of trivia:

Aguirre is the Spanish form of the Basque Agirre, a topographic name (ager / agir) for ‘open space’ or ‘pasture’.–from Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

So my last name means “pasture”, more or less.

Will you read my book?

If your manuscript is uncontracted, I can’t read it for legal reasons. If your book is being published and you’re interested in an author blurb, email my agent about it. I don’t make any promises, however.

Can I call your agent?

Yes, I would theorize that you are capable of doing so. I recommend you don’t, however, because that would probably make her cranky.

Heh, you’d be surprised how often I get asked about this. The answer is kind of gross, but hey, you did ask. I got food poisoning from some improperly cooked chicken. Once you’ve spent a night hurling up your guts and wishing for death, you get more careful about what you eat. Raw eggs can have the same effect, so I stopped eating anything that contains them, which includes cake batter and cookie dough.

What’s it like, living in Mexico?

Like anywhere else, it has its ups and downs. I love the climate because it’s so temperate. And I love rainy season because you can set your watch by it. You know you need to have your errands done by afternoon and be holed up to watch it storm. There’s a raw loveliness to it that I’ve never seen anywhere else.

People here are charming as well. The pace is quite different from the US. People aren’t in a hurry. The work will still be there tomorrow. Life is festive. Parties spill out into the streets. People dance at the drop of a hat. Folks tend to be exuberant, lively, and animated. (That’s not to say that nobody here is ever surly.)

The worst thing about living here is trying to navigate. Streets are not always clearly marked and I suck at reading maps, even when streets are clearly marked. But I’m making progress. Every day I learn something new. It makes life an adventure, which is fine by me.

What’s your latest news?

I just sold two books to Whitney Ross of Tor Teen. Like Never and Always is a dark contemporary YA romance that can be best described as “Veronica Mars meets Twin Peaks with just a whisper of If I Stay.” You can expect LN&A in the summer of 2018.